I don’t remember the last time I said something to the effect that “I’d give my right arm to be able to do________________.” What I’m looking for right now is the ability to express an original thought about how I feel about gun control, given the nature of the national debate.

Then last night my mind came up with a parallel between a neighbor who used to carry a gun on his hip around the neighborhood as he took his dog for a walk. From time to time there would be a boom, followed by another. After the Sheriff’s office showed up to see what was going on, it was clear that he encountered a poisonous snake and now the snake was dead. Mind you, the dog was now freaked out from the gunshots.

The parallel comes from another neighbor, not one who carries a gun, but is deathly afraid of snakes. He sees them all the time, keeps a long, curved, branch cutting tool nearby, and regardless of specie, dispatches them with glee. Me, I have no fear of snakes and hardly ever encounter one, much less one I want to kill.

Now, I have been known to kill a moccasin or two, especially those who appear near the house, and in deference to my two year old grandson who visits frequently, I make those snakes disappear. But we also have corn snakes, black snakes, garter snakes, all of whom are far more afraid of me than I am of them. Even the moccasins and rattlesnakes are more interested in avoiding a confrontation than I am, since I’m bigger than they are, and over the millennia, they’ve discovered there is a better chance of survival if they are not seen or found, much less reach out and bite me because they can.

Somewhere in this thought process I recall something I saw in the movies, a western no doubt, where one of the lead characters said something like “The only good Injun is a dead Injun.” Not sure that would go over well today. But it also brings to mind the attitude of my neighbor #2, that the “only good snake is a dead snake.”

Which brings me back to the NRA and the arguments about gun control. The NRA leader says that the response to the tragedy in Newton, CT is to arm the teachers, so that there was a gun in every classroom. Same with grocery stores, restaurants and shopping malls, I suppose.

And these seem to be the same people who want us to bomb Iran, and get involved in Syria and make sure we’re ready to bomb the crap out of China in the years ahead, when they get too uppity. It’s not a long stretch to suggest that “the only good enemy is a dead enemy.” How does that now square with our present day relationship with Germany, with Japan, with Viet Nam?

OK, that last thought was a little off the path, but for me, there is a theme here. And that is if someone disagrees with you, then simply kill them and move on. And that implies your only obligation is to carry a big enough weapon and be prepared to use it if you think the threat is real. Never mind that the other party simply wants to be left alone or if there really is no threat. All that’s necessary is YOU think there’s a threat.

Yes, the Second Amendment says I can own a gun if I choose to. The First Amendment also says I have the right to free speech, but it’s long been recognized that I don’t have the right to yell “Fire!” in a crowded theater. There are rational limits that society deems appropriate to maintain our sanity and our safety. Are any of you foolish enough to insist on driving on the left side of the road? We have institutionalized rules and regulations for hundreds of years for the benefit of society.

I now regard the antics of the NRA as a demonstrable threat to MY freedoms as a citizen of these United States. And it’s time my elected officials take the necessary steps to preserve my freedoms. I have no idea how many firearms there are in this country not owned by law enforcement or the military. But if we could get half of them removed, I’d feel safer.

It’s like in economics and the law of supply of demand; reduce the supply and the price goes up. Make them harder to get and it will be more difficult for those without solid reasons to have a gun to get one.